Medical content marketing explained

Medical content marketing is a strategic approach to creating online materials that build connections with patients, healthcare providers and other key stakeholders. Healthcare content marketing involves creating content for websites, blogs, online articles, social media and more. In addition to written content, medical content marketing can include informatics, animations, videos, podcasts and other moving content. 

The purpose of medical content marketing is to engage and inform your audience by creating valuable, relevant and consistent content. 42group is one of the UK’s leading healthcare and medical content agencies, working with a range of leading healthcare, medical and pharma organisations. In this guide, we describe what healthcare content marketing is, the fundamentals of effective content marketing including content types, writing styles, SEO strategies, and some tips on selecting the right agency.

Understanding medical content marketing

Healthcare content marketing involves more than simply creating a blog post or posting an update on social media. Effective medical content marketing takes a strategic approach to delivering information that educates, informs and engages your target audience.

The ultimate goal of content marketing is to build trust, nurture relationships and establish you and your brand as a trusted source of information and an authority in your field. 

Key objectives:

• Educate and inform: Content marketing can deliver valuable information that empowers your audience to make informed health decisions armed with all the facts they need. This type of educational content forms the backbone of healthcare content marketing, providing insights into symptoms, treatments and preventative measures patients can take. In a world where misinformation is rife, trustworthy content can help people understand complex medical concepts, making them accessible to a wider audience. Educational content like articles, videos and infographics should be created for your core audience. To make things easier to understand you can break down complicated topics into understandable segments, adding things like FAQs to address key questions. Educational content marketing in healthcare gives patients knowledge and can put them in control of their health.
• Build trust and authority: People and patients want information from organisations and sources that they can trust. Content can position your brand as a trustworthy source of healthcare information. To achieve this, your content should be professional and consistently updated and improved to reflect medical standards and research. Collaborating with medical experts and citing reputable sources can significantly boost your credibility and provide validation for readers. Using content to establish your brand as an authority is an effective strategy but takes time and investment. 
• Engage and retain: Content has to grab attention, but avoid using cheap tricks or publishing more derivative content. Some brands find that incorporating interactive elements like quizzes, surveys and discussion forums can foster active participation. We find that personalised content that addresses specific health concerns or interests enhances engagement. Regularly updated blogs, podcasts and videos can ensure that your audience has a reason to return. Over time, tracking engagement metrics such as page views, comments, and shares can help you understand what content resonates most with your audience.
• Drive actions: Content is about informing people but it’s also about driving them to act. Through content, you can encourage your audience to take specific actions, such as booking an appointment or subscribing to a newsletter. Effective content marketing should always have a clear call to action (CTA), whether it’s about encouraging patients to schedule a consultation, download a health guide or sign up for updates. Some people consider content marketing unfocused, so driving meaningful actions is a key indicator of successful content marketing.

Understanding your audience: The key to content marketing

A detailed understanding of your audience – including insights into their behaviour, paint points and content preferences – is fundamental to effective healthcare content marketing. You need to tailor your content to meet the specific needs, interests, and challenges of different audience segments. Here are some of the key audiences you may want to connect with through your content marketing campaigns:

1. Patients: Let’s start with patients. We know that patients want clear, easily understandable and relatable information about symptoms, treatments and health management. Patients often experience anxiety and confusion when dealing with health issues that can cause them stress. You can answer these and reduce anxiety by creating step-by-step guides, FAQs and using personal stories to make the information more relatable and less intimidating. Visual aids like diagrams and videos can help explain medical concepts in a more accessible way. Content that addresses common patient concerns and misconceptions builds trust and encourages proactive health management, giving patients back control.
2. Clinicians & healthcare providers: Healthcare providers and clinicians want detailed and evidence-based information to support, diagnose and treat patients. Content should be precise and data-driven, with content reflecting the latest research and clinical guidelines empowering patients to offer the best care. Of course, including references to peer-reviewed studies, clinical trials, and expert opinions is essential – enhancing the credibility of your content. Clinicians are time-poor, so presenting information in a structured and logical manner, with clear headings and summaries can help busy professionals find what they need quickly.
3. Caregivers: Caregivers – including those in the community – want practical information and advice on managing patient care. Content that’s practically focused should always be clear and actionable. We know that caregivers manage multiple responsibilities and need straightforward guidance. To help them, providing checklists, how-to articles and resource guides can help caregivers perform their roles with confidence.
4. Policy makers: Policymakers and other key stakeholders need concise, evidence-based content that highlights the implications and the impact of your work. These groups make decisions that impact public health, so your content should aim to inform and influence them. Summarising key research findings and their potential policy implications provides valuable insights in a way that’s accessible. For this audience, data visualisations like charts and graphs can convey complex information effectively. As well as short and direct content, engaging policymakers through briefings, white papers and policy reports can enhance the reach and impact of your business and brand.

Copywriting principles for healthcare content marketing

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating great medical content (despite what online experts tell you). However, we find that effective healthcare content marketing adheres to several key copywriting principles that can ensure your messages are clear, engaging and delivered with authority. The benefits are increased engagement, reach and impact. 

Here are five key principles of effective medical content marketing: 

1. Clarity: Healthcare content should avoid jargon and complex language unless you’re writing for healthcare professionals, researchers, scientists or informed stakeholders. It’s easy to slide into industry speak, but try to use plain language and define necessary medical terms. Providing clarity through writing and editing should ensure messages are understood by a broad audience, including those without a medical background. 
2. Accuracy: Misinformation is rife online and medical content marketing producers must always be as accurate as possible. You’ll need to research and refine content to ensure all information is accurate and up-to-date. Regularly reviewing and updating content (either internally or with the support of qualified medical and legal experts) to reflect the latest research findings is essential is vital. In all medical contentn, fact-checking and peer review are important steps for having total confidence in its quality and accuracy. 
3. Engagement: People want information that’s accessible and relatable. Writing in an engaging and active way captures the reader’s attention and keeps them interested. Using storytelling techniques – and incorporating anecdotes and real-world examples – are effective strategies to make content more accessible. Without wanting to be too prescriptive, varying sentence structure and incorporating visual elements like images, videos and infographics can also enhance engagement. As expert copywriters, we’ve found that a conversational tone can make complex topics feel more accessible and engaging without over simplifying complex concepts.
4. Persuasiveness: Commercial copywriters always use persuasive techniques to encourage action or change in perspective – and this can work for medical content producers, too. When writing about research, for example, clearly articulate the significance of your findings and their potential impact. Including testimonials, case studies and success stories is powerful, providing real-world evidence to support your arguments and capture your impact. 
5. Compliance: We’re talking about health, so always adhere to ethical and legal standards in your writing. This includes accurately representing findings, avoiding sensationalism and respecting intellectual property rights. When writing about research, transparency about potential conflicts of interest and funding sources is also important in maintaining trust and credibility among your audience, including the patients, the public and key stakeholders. This is a specialist area, so regularly consulting with legal and regulatory experts and involving them in your editorial and publishing processes is crucial.

Creating a medical content marketing strategy

Effective, successful and impactful content marketing in the healthcare, pharma and medical sectors is driven by a content strategy. Your content strategy is a comprehensive plan which sets out your target audience, content marketing activities, and KPIs. 

Your medical content marketing plan will likely include the following sections and follow this logical structure:

• Understanding your audience
• Setting clear objectives
• Developing a healthcare content plan
• Content distribution and promotion
• Engaging with your audience
• Measuring success and adjusting strategy
• Ensuring accessibility and compliance

You can learn more about what a healthcare and medical content marketing strategy is – and how you writer one – in our detailed guide.

Content types in medical content marketing

We’ll assume you’ve developed your content strategy, identified your audience, set your KPIs, and captured the impact you want to have in some way. One of the most important parts of creating a content strategy is selecting your content channel mix.

Healthcare and medical content marketing incorporates a wide range of content types, each of them serving different purposes and audiences and having a different outcome. Here are some of the most used medical content marketing marketing channels: 

1. Website content: Your website is the engine room of your content marketing strategy. Content marketing activities will typically push people to your website where readers can find information on your product, service or solution. Copywriters can create website content, blogs, whitepapers, landing pages, articles and more. 
2. Patient education materials: Content marketing can also include brochures, pamphlets, and website content that explain medical conditions, treatments and provide healthy living tips. Because they’re primarily patient-focused, these materials should be written clearly and engagingly to help patients understand complex medical information. Including visuals like diagrams, illustrations and infographics. Addressing common questions and concerns through patient content provides reassurance and guidance and builds trust. 
3. Healthcare provider communications: We’re talking about materials created specifically for healthcare professionals including clinicians and caregivers. White papers, journal articles and clinical study reports provide detailed, research-based information to help them do their jobs properly and deliver the best care for patients. Naturally, this content should be highly accurate and well-researched, reflecting the latest scientific findings and clinical guidelines. Including detailed references and citations establishes credibility and allows verification. We recommend removing commercial information and presenting data, facts and findings in a clear and logical way, with the appropriate use of charts and tables. 
4. Marketing materials: Advertisements, landing pages, email campaigns, and social media content designed to promote healthcare products and services are a core part of content marketing. Effective marketing materials are (as we all know as consumers) persuasive and engaging, highlighting and promoting the unique benefits and features of your product, service or solution. Ensuring all claims are accurate and compliant with regulations maintains credibility and avoids legal issues.
5. Regulatory documents: Regulatory submissions, labelling, and patient information leaflets that comply with industry standards and guidelines. These documents must be meticulously accurate and adhere to all relevant regulations and guidelines. Including necessary disclaimers, warnings, and compliance statements avoids legal issues. Providing clear and detailed information about the product, including its intended use, potential side effects, and contraindications, ensures patient safety and compliance. Regularly updating these documents to reflect regulatory changes and clinical findings is important.
6. Internal communications: Sometimes content marketing is used to support clinical implementation. Training materials, newsletters, and memos aimed at educating and informing healthcare staff and stakeholders. These materials should be clear, concise, and informative, providing relevant and relatable information. Because this audience is time-poor, using a structured format with headings, subheadings, and bullet points helps organise content and make it easier to read. We have found that including practical tips, case studies, and real-world examples can enhance engagement and increase understanding. Given the importance of this information to patient outcomes, it should be regularly checked, updated and validated by external experts.

Choosing a medical content agency partner

This has been a whistlestop tour through the basics of healthcare and medical content marketing, but we hope you’ve learned more about what content marketing is and the impact that it can have. 

Organisations interested in harnessing the power of healthcare content marketing should find a partner that can help them re§alise the benefits. But how? We know (as one of the UK’s leading medical content marketing agencies) that selecting the right agency can significantly impact the success of your healthcare content marketing projects.

Here’s our guide on how to select a suitable content marketing agency for your healthcare, pharma or medical project;

1. Explore their healthcare experience and expertise: Don’t just type “copywriting” or “content” into Google and expect to find a suitable agency. Instead, search for medical copywriting and healthcare content agencies with a proven track record in healthcare content marketing and a deep understanding of the area. You’ll find that reviewing their website, portfolio and case studies can provide insights into their expertise and capabilities – but always pick up the phone and make a human connection if you can. 
2. Learn about the content services offered: Before approaching an agency, consider the services you need. Some agencies (like 42group) can offer copywriting, content creation, SEO and digital marketing services. Others may specialise in delivering one area of the digital marketing mix. You can use their website and an initial call to assess their capabilities and resources. This will quite quickly determine if they can meet your needs. Go beyond the superficial, and explore their processes and methodologies. This provides insights into their approach and quality of work and can interface well with you, your team and your organisation. 
3. Understand their approach to communication and collaboration: Effective communication and collaboration are essential for a successful partnership – but too often clients don’t explore this area before commissioning work or signing a contract. Look for an agency partner that prioritises regular updates, feedback and transparent communication. During calls and communications, you can assess their attitude, style and responsiveness.
4. Assess the cost and value: Consider the agency’s pricing structure and the value it provides. It’s likely your boss will want the cheapest option, but cost and value aren’t the same thing. When working with a skilled medical content agency like 42group, a higher initial cost will justified by better results and a higher return on investment. You’ll want to build a partnership with a supplier, so consider the long-term benefits of investing in a relationship, rather than seeking to cut costs.
5. Ask questions about client support and satisfaction: How does your agency ensure you’re happy? That’s the main thing. Through the negotiation process, assess the agency’s commitment to client support and satisfaction. Search for an agency that is committed to delivering great work and is responsive to your needs. A customer-centric approach to the partnership should go a long way to ensuring a successful partnership.

This process should help you understand some of the criteria for assessing a content marketing agency. In the end, the decision should be driven by business requirements and represent a balance between cost, quality and partner communication.

Medical content marketing – Invest in the future

It should be clear by now that healthcare content marketing is a specialised field that requires a deep understanding of the sector, excellent writing skills and an understanding of how to create effective marketing strategies. Experience has shown us that understanding your audience, adhering to copywriting principles and creating diverse content types can help you build human connections with your audience. In a world where trust is falling and AI content it on the rise, this is vital.

We hope you’ve found this basic guide to healthcare content marketing useful. If you have any questions, or comments, or would like to learn more about medical content marketing from a leading agency, get in touch.